Windows Phone 7.8 launching in “coming weeks” says Microsoft China

Greater China Vice President of Microsoft Corporation has been speaking rather openly about Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 7.8.

Speaking to Beijing newspaper BJD he revealed that Windows Phone 8 handsets would hit the market there some time in December. He said Nokia Corporation , Samsung Electronics, HTC Corporation and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. were actively preparing for the product launch, and that the phones would be localized to China, for example featuring Chinese speech recognition. This of course by itself is not news.

He also revealed that a batch of other Windows Phone OEMs would be joining the fold next year. This list likely includes the likes of ZTE and Lenovo.

More interesting however was the claim that the Windows Phone 7.8 upgrade will â€œbe launched in Chinese market the coming weeksâ€ and that the two major editions would co-exist in China simultaneously. This news confirms earlier rumours.

He also provided some interesting stats, mentioning that there were more than 50,000 Chinese Windows Phone developers who have already created 40,000 applications which is certainly one way to boost the numbers.